Photoprinting-machine.



G. CROSTON.

PHOTOPRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30. 1916.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

WITNESSES I mvmron 'K/WJ/d/Z GEORGE erosion, or account, wasnmoron.

PHOTOPBINTIN'G-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

Application filed larch 30, 1916. Serial No. 87,738;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE CROSTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hoquiam, in the county of Grays Harbor and State of Washin on, have invented a new and Improved hotoprinting-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to photography and has particular reference to means for printing photographs or similar prints in a rapid, uniform and easy manner.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a device of a self-contained nature having facilities for receiving and holding the sensitized paper or its equlvalent in connection with the negative or its equivalent, with means for acting upon the same with a white light for a predetermined time, the extent of Which is automatically terminated and the light extinguished.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device of this nature in which the sensitized paper or its equivalent is held in printing position by a movable cover of the device, said cover being pro vided with means for lifting the photo-print automatically when the cover opens so that the operator may readily grasp and remove the same preparatory to introducing another print.

A further object of the invention is to provide a printing casing or cabinet having a cover connected by peculiar means along its hinged side so as to readily accommodate itself to the work to be performed, and having a peculiar form of hasp to lock it closed until the time arrives when it is to be automatically opened.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic lighting system for the apparatus, the same including a main and auxiliary circuit, one circuit having a white light and the other a ruby light, with shiftable contacts operative by the opening and closing of the lid to change from one light to the other automatically.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the arrange ment and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which y Figure 1 is a plan view of the device with the cover closed; Fig. 2 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transvrrse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the broken line 44 ofFig. 2; Fig. 5 is a diagram indicatin a fragment of the masking curtain; ig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 66 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a perspective detail of the timing device; Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the contact pin supporting block and associated parts; and Fig. 9 is a diagram of the wiring of the motor, lamps and contacts.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings I show the device as comprising a cabinet or casing 10 of a light-proof nature of any convenient size according to the character of the work to be done, the same hav ing in its lower portion two lamps 11 and 12, the former being preferably of a white diffused light and the latter of a ruby color.

The bottom of the casing is provided along one side with a series of ventilating holes 13 through which air may enter from beneath the casing between the rubber feet 14' on which the casing is adapted to stand. An inclined glass screen 15 is arranged within the. casing over the lamps, the inclination of which is upward toward the side opposite theinlet holes 13, and the upper portion of the casing beyond the upper edge of the screen 15 is provided with outlets 16 whereby the heat incident to the burning of the lamps causes a circulation through the casing and protects the negative above the screen 15 from being damaged.

On one side of the casing is provided a tinted window 17 whereby the operator may always observe the operation of the light and on the other side, opposite the window 17, is arranged a large opening 18 guarded. by one or more glass plates 19 and on the outside of which is arranged an opaque slide 20. This opening 18 is intended to provide means for using either of the lamps 11 for purposes auxiliary to the main object of the. device. During ordinary operations of the machine, however, the slide 20 is in place so as to make the casing practically lightproof.

Located at any convenient place, as at one end of the casing, is an electric motor 21 of either direct or alternating current type and one that is adapted also to start in the same direction and to be used in conjunction with the lighting devices. As shown by the diagram in Fig. 9, the current of electricity maybe supplied to the machine from and through a standard connector 22. The lamp 11 is located in the main circuit including the wire 23, contact 24, pin 25, movable contact 26, spring 27, wire 28, the motor field, thence through the wire 29, pin 30, spring 31 and return Wire 32. The ruby lamp 12 is located in the auxiliary circuit provided by a wire 33, contact 34, pin 35, movable contact sleeve 26 when its flange engages the flange on the pin 35 under the force of the spring 27, thence through the wires 28 and 29, pin 30, contact 31 and return wire .32. It will be understood in this latter instance that the movable contact sleeve 26 carried by the guide pin 36 under the force of the spring 27 moves away from the collar on the pin 25, thereby cutting out the white light automatically when the cover 37 is lifted and the finger 38 carried thereby is removed from the pin 36. Since the amount of current running through the red lamp is less than that through the white lamp, the motor will stop when the white light is cut out.

The cover 37 and the parts associated therewith constitute parts of the improvement. In the first place the cover is connected at its rear edge to the upper portion of the casing by means of a pair of spring hinges 38 each having an angularly arranged lower portion 39 extending downwardly and thence rearwardly to a point of anchorage 40. The other end of each spring is secured at 41 to the lid. When the lid is closed the coil of the spring is put under ten sion tending to throw the lid open, Whereas the lower portion of the spring at the angle is put under tension tending to hold the rear edge of the lid down and resist the tendency for the lid to swing too far open. At the front end of the casing is provided an adjustable hasp 42, the same having a. downwardly projecting forked end 43 with which an adjusting screw 44 cotiperates to move the hasp toward or from the lid beneath a pair of guide lugs 45. The adjustment is' made secure by a pair of set screws 46. A catch 47 is pivoted at 48 upon the front edge of the lid. The point of the catch is adapted to snap beneath the rear end of the hasp 42 (see Fig. 2) under the forc'eof a light spring 49 secured upon the reduced end 50 of a guide rod 51 extending longitudinally along one side edge of the lid. This spring 49 bears against the angularly projecting end 47 of the catch tending to hold the same squarely against the end of the squared portion of the guide bar 51 and the active end of the catch in position to snap beneath the indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

The motor mechanism includes a motor shaft 52 having a worm 53 thereon meshing with a worm gear 54 secured to a shaft 55,

and this shaft has miter geared connections at 56 with a screw 57 extending parallel to and beneath the guide bar 51 whereby, when the motor is operating, the screw 57 is rotated in its bearings, one of which is a cone bearing at 58.

At 59 is indicated a runner in the form of a fragment of a nut secured to a timing block 60 slidable freely upon the guide bar 51 between the aforesaid catch projection 47 and an adjustable stop 61. The stop carries a pointer 62 associated with a scale 63 along the adjacent edge of the lid and indieating, as a suggestion,-periods of seconds from 1 to 20.

It is obvious that if a longer time is desired for the printing than the automatic device provides for, the motor may be thrown out of action by a suitably arranged switch and the lid released by the operators finger.

,F or ordinary practice, however, the autothe runner 59 comes into engagement with the screw 57, and since the motor is then started the action of the screw causes the runner and block to be carried forwardly until the block strikes the projection 47 and releases the catch. The lid then fiies open under the force of the spring hinges 38 stopping the motor and resetting the timing block back again to the stop 61 ready for a succeeding printing operation. It will then be seen that the starting of the motoris dependent only upon the closing of the lid and then the opening of the lid and the stopping of the motor are automatically effected. The length of time required for the stopping device to function is dependent only upon the point of adjustment of the stop 61 along the scale 63. From these facts it follows that the printing is always of uniform character and hence may be carried on easily and effectively.

The above described contact pins 25, 30, 35 and 36, and parts associated therewith are carried by a block 64 constituting a part of the removable top of the casing, said top being secured in place by means of-hooks 65 coiiperating with the several corners. For

ordinary use, however, the top is -re-' moved, the movable lid" being suflicient for 'a masking curtain 67, (see Fig. 5) which is providedwvith a series of various forms ofopenings to form the mask of the pictures according to individual taste, Next over the.

curtain is placed the negative 68 and next in turn is placed a sensitized paper 69 directly beneath the under surface of the lid. The ends of the curtain 67 are connected to rollers 70 at opposite sides of the lid, each journaled in a casing 71 and each of the rollers is adapted to be operated by a crank 72 at'the end of the casing, Each roller, furthermore, is provided with a pawl and; ratchet-device 73 to control its operation. One of the cranks is intended to be turned clockwise and the other counterclockwise, each independently of the other, for adjustment of the curtain according to the form of the masking desired. The curtain operates beneath the screw 57 of the timing devlce.

The frame into which the lid fits may be notched out, as indicated at 7 1, to facilitate the removal of the print from its printing device but preferably I provide a suction cup 75 fitted in the central part of the lid, the cup being made preferably of rubber, and is so formed as to be collapsed by the shutting of the lid setting up a suction upon the upper surface of the print paper. Since the lower surface of the lid is faced with felt 37' or its equivalent, making a snug contact with the upper surface of the paper, the suction action has no tendency to distort the paper while the printing is being done,

but when the lid is lifted the action of the cup serves to lift the paper so that the operator has but to grasp its free edge and remove it from the cup while replacing another paper into the pit below it.

, Beneath the ground glass screen 66 is another screen 7 6 which, for certain classes of printing, is desired to be adjustable toward or from the fixed glass 66. The plate 76 is shown supportedin hangers 77 including vertical racks 78 meshing with pinions 79. The pinions are mounted upon shafts 80 adapted to be rotated by thumb pieces 81 on the outside of the main casing, whereby the plate 76 may be moved up or down to vary the distance between it and the fixed plate 66.

I claim 1. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the casing, a tiltable hinged lid for the casing, means tending to lift and tilt the lid to open the casing, means holding the lid closed and causing the light to glow, a timing block carried-by the lid and movable lengthwise thereof, and means to causethe movement of the timing block according to time for printing, such timing block automatically a predetermined movement of the releasing the-means holding the lid closed,

thereby permitting the lid to open automatically and extinguish the light.

bination of a casing including a lid tiltable upwardly around a horizontal axis, means to hold the lid closed for the printing operation, a guide rod carried by the lid and extending longitudinally thereof with the axis of the rod perpendicular to the axis of the lid hinge, a timing block movable longitudinally along the guide rod according to a predetermined time for printing, and means acting upon the timing block to move it positively in one direction to automatically release the lid-holding means, thereby allowing the lid to tilt upwardly and permit the timing block to move by gravity along the guide rod in the opposite direction.

3. In a. photo-printing machine, the combination of av casing including a lid tiltable to open position around a horizontal axis, means acting upon the lid tending to tilt it to open position, catch means to hold the lid closed, a member movable longitudinally of the lid at right angles to the axis of the lid hinge, and power means acting upon said member to cause it to move positively against the catch means to release the same to permit the lid to open automatically, said member being movable automatically by gravity to normal position when the lid is open.

4. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the casing, a lid for the casing tiltable to open position around a horizontal axis, catch means to hold the lid closed and cause the light to glow,means tending to open the lid and stop the action of the light, a guide rod connected to the lid with its axis perpendicular to the axis 'of the .lid hinge, a runner slidable upon the rod, but non-rotary thereon, and means acting upon the runner to positively move it along the rod when the lid is closed until it engages and releases the catch means permitting the lid to open, said runner when the lid tilts to open position being slidable by gravity along said rod to its original position.

5. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the casing, a movable lid for the casing, light diffusing means between the source of light and the lid, a portion of said diffusing means consisting of a plate below and parallel to the lid, means acting upon said plate to adjust the same bodily toward or from the lid, negative and printing elements being adapted to be held between the light 2. In a photo-printing machine, the comdifi'using means and the lid, and means tending to open the lid and automatically interrupt the source of light and the printing operation.

6. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the lower portion of the casing, a diagonal partition of light-diffusing nature above the the source of light, means to support a negative and other printing elements above the partition, and atinted window on one side of the casing above the adjacent edge of the screen.

7. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the lower portion of the casing, means to control th action of the source of light, said casing having an opening on one side, and ground glass slide devices guarding said opening whereby the casing and light therein are adapted for special printing operations. v

8. In a hoto-printing machine, the combination oi a casing, lamps of difierent character within the casing, a source of energy for the lamps, a hinged tiltable lid for the casing, means to automatically open the lid after a predetermined period of time from the closing thereof, and connections between the lid and the two sources of light whereby, when the lid is closed, one lamp will glow, and when the lid automatically opens, said lamp will be extinguished and the other lamp will be caused to glow, said automatic lid-opening means including a slidable timing block carried by the lid and slidable by gravity to normal position for a subsequent operation when the lid is tilted.

9. In a photo-printingmachine, the combination of a casing, a lamp within the casing, a motor associated with the casing, a source of energy for the lamp and motor, a hinged lid for the casing, means tending to open the lid, connections between the lid and the source of energy serving to cause the lamp to glow and the motor to operate when the lid is closed, and means set in operation by the motor to automatically open the lid after a predetermined interval of time from the closing thereof whereby the lamp is cut out and the motor stopped automatically.

10. In a photo-printing machine, the combin-ation f a casing, a lamp within the easing, a tiltable lid, catch devices to hold the lid closed and cause the lamp to glow, a timingblock carried by and movable along the lid, means to initiate the movement of the timing block simultaneously with the lighting of the lamp and causing said block to move until it releases the catch devices, permitting'the lid to tilt and cut out the lamp, said block being movable by gravity automatically to original position when the lid is tilted to open position.

11. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a main casing, printing devices within the casing, a movable lid for the easing serving to hold the printing devices in operative position, and'means connected to the lid to automatically lift the print from the casing when the lid is open.

12. In a photo-printing machine, the combination of a casing, a source of light within the casing, a tiltable lid connected to the casing, means to hold the lid closed and initiate the operation of the light, said lid serving to hold a print in position to be acted upon by the light for a predetermined time, and

a suction cup carried by the inner surface of the lid serving to lift the print automatically when the lid is tilted.

13. The combination with a casing having printing facilities therein and a tiltable lid for the casing, of spring hinge connections between the lid and the casing, said connections serving to tend to tilt the lid to open position and also to resiliently limit the tilting movement of the lid.

14. The combination with a photo-print-- ing machine casing and a swinging lid therefor, of a pair of spring hinges connecting the lid to the casing, each spring hinge having one end connected to the lid, a coil adjacent the edge of the lid, and a downwardly and rearwardly projecting angular portion having the extreme rear end thereof anchored to the casing, the angular portion of the hinge tending to draw the rear edge of the lid snugly downwardly in closed position.

GEORGE CROSTON. Witnesses:

J. A. LENFESTI, Eva M. SMITH. 

